For patients with chronic loss of limb motion, such as with stroke victims, it is essential to restore the brain functions linking desired and actual limb motions via physical therapy. This retraining of the brain may be accomplished by repetitions of fairly simple limb motions, typically under the guidance of a physical therapist or other practitioner. Typically, patients receive physical therapy from a physical therapist in person, wherein the physical therapist guides the patient through a series of limb movements or exercises designed to restore at least partial limb function. The therapist may guide the patient through each desired exercise by either physically manipulating the patient's limb, and/or providing feedback to the patient regarding the quality of the patient's movements during the exercise. The therapist may administer the physical therapy to the patient in the therapist's office or other facility, or the therapist may travel to the patient's home, hospital room, or other location to administer the physical therapy. This method of administering physical therapy may limit the amount of physical therapy available to the patient due to the limited availability of the therapist, the logistical challenge of traveling to a physical therapist's facility, and the expense of office visits and/or home visits with the therapist.
There exist at least several unique challenges associated with the administration of physical therapy to restore limb movement to patients with chronic loss of limb motion that are not typically addressed by existing systems. In order to administer physical therapy to restore limb movement to patients with chronic loss of limb motion, the desired motions associated with the therapy are typically customized by the therapist for each patient according to need. In addition, the capability of the patient to perform a desired limb motion may evolve from little or no capability to full capability over time, and the therapist typically monitors the patient's performance and modifies the prescribed motions to provide an appropriate match to the patient's current abilities. As a result, a home-based system may need to administer physical therapy exercises that are individually customized to each patient and designed to evolve over time as the patients capabilities evolve.
Further, the desired motions associated with the physical therapy may be very specific in that the posture of each portion of the limb during the motion is crucial to the effectiveness of the therapy. For example, a desired motion may entail laterally extending an arm in a prescribed plane of movement while maintaining the elbow and shoulder in a relatively fixed position to target specific muscle groups in need of development. In addition, many patients with chronic loss of limb motion may make use of external supports or braces to accomplish the desired limb motions, and/or may be confined to wheelchairs or beds. Typically, the therapist may physically manipulate the limb of the patient to ensure that the exercise is performed with proper limb posture and range of movement. A home-based system may need to provide the capability to provide specific and meaningful guidance to the patient regarding appropriate posture during a limb movement. In addition, the home-based system may further need to provide compatibility with patients wearing supports and/or braces, bed-ridden patients, and/or wheelchair-bound patients.
A need exists for a devices, systems, and methods of administering physical therapy to patients with chronic loss of limb motion. Such devices, systems, and methods may provide the ability for a patient to receive in-home therapy. This in-home therapy may be custom-designed by a therapist, may be monitored and/or scored to provide continuous assessment of the patient's progress, and the patient's progress may be communicated to the therapist and/or stored for subsequent analysis. The devices, systems, and methods may further provide the ability to record exercise demonstrations by the therapist and to incorporate the therapist's demonstrations and other instructions into the in-home therapy communicated to the patient.